Fra SC:
I’ve been a member here for about two decades, and very rarely post (although I read pretty much every day). However, I felt I had to post my very first (and almost certainly last) bit of ITK! Sorry for the length of the post - there’s a wide variety of titbits (a lot of it not earth-shattering or even news, but an interesting insight nonetheless, I hope).
So my girlfriend‘s friend and her young son are heading abroad for a year, and they had a picnic in a park. While there, I got chatting to one of the other dad’s and it turns out he works at the club in a non-playing role, and has been there over ten years. Naturally, I was gagging to hear about what it’s really like, and he has happy to share. It was a wide ranging conversation about the club in general, so I’m afraid there’s not a lot on transfer targets etc., and is a bit scattergun. Hopefully it’s enjoyable to read for you guys!
On Ange:
Ange wasn’t the cuddly persona you saw in the media (!) and was very distant and standoffish. He was an incredibly hard taskmaster who say himself as a ‘disrupter’ and wanted to come in and shake things up. He had complete faith in his own abilities. After a pre-season loss to Bayern, he took the players into the hallway and gave them a few minutes to look at all the trophy winners and past glories. Then he got them altogether and said ‘Sonny, I don’t see your photo up there, Cuti, I don’t see yours. I don’t see Harry Kane’s (he’d just left). So stick with me and don’t give me any shit and we’ll get up there’. Despite all the well wishes from players at the end, they were apparently very different to their true thoughts.
On Frank:
Seems really nice, honest and approachable. Excellent coach. Maybe a bit too nice? He wondered if we’ll see the steel needed. Perhaps he needs a hatchet man - Redknapp had Joe Jordan, Poch had Jesus (apparently potentially terrifying), so maybe we’ll see that behind the scenes.
On Levy:
Levy has a way of working which permeates the club - the guy used the phrase ‘we have to do more with less’ a few occasions, so it’s a bit of a mantra - a bit of a truism when up against Chelsea and City and their bottomless pit. He said Levy had put his own money into the club and does really want success, but has been burned by following other ‘football people’s’ advice (e.g. Ndombele) so he is reluctant sometimes with big signing.
On Kane:
He’s huge - bigger and stronger than you thinks which makes the game easy for him - like he’s playing with kids. Incredibly high standards and works so hard on his finishing. Absolutely loves living in Munich, and his family do too. Would he come back? Never say never, especially as he’s so close to Shearer’s record, but no current plans.
On the EPL and players in general:
The league is just so unbelievably physical, and brutally aggressive, which is why some players struggle, e.g. Gil and GLC - they’re just too lightweight, even though they’re excellent players. When I asked about other small players like Modric/Silva, he said Modric was actually super strong especially his lower body/core, and had huge calves compared to the ‘flimsy’ Gil. He also had elite mentality that ‘you will not break me’, whereas some of the most thee mentioned are used to swanning around not being tackled - they just can’t hack the physicality of the PL.
Ndombele was such a waste. Great talent, but so unbelievably lazy. When Mourinho was there, he said ‘if you had come to me about him, in 30 seconds I would tell you no way’. On his welcome dinner after being signed, he fell asleep at the table and asked to go back to the hotel to sleep - everyone was like ‘WTF is with this guy?’. Identified by Hitchen who said he’s not he next big thing to come out of France. He showed videos to Poch and encouraged the signing. Poch said to DL ‘Bring me Ndomble and I will win the league’
On signings and this summer window:
We want a full back, a CB, a 10 and maybe a striker.
We wanted Guehi, but he wants to go to Liverpool. We definitely want a CB, as were an injury to Cuti/Romero away from relying on Ben Davies. Danso is OK, but not the same level. Not sure what Dragusin will be like when back
On MGW - he said he thinks Marinakis put a lot of pressure on, with a suggesting it being a bit unsavoury.
Grealish - not likely, as he doesn’t fit the way Frank wants to play, especially going man for man in the press/ transition. He said Harvey Elliot was much more the profile the club would be looking at.
Nico Paz - hasn’t heard anything, but sounds like Paritici’s MO.
Lange and Paritici might be a good mix, with Lange being an expert on Northern Europe, and Paritici being Southern Europe - it gives us good coverage. The club are definitely working g towards bringing in ‘a few more bodies’
That’s it! I doubt I’ll get any more info, but I’m happy I can pass on the little that I found out, after loving ITK myself for many a year. Hope this fills a little bit of the ITK dearth we’ve had this year.